Find Your Health Condition
Addressed Below.

A partial list of disorders that respond well to Hanna Somatic Education
appears below. The descriptions indicate the rationale and approach used in addressing a disorder. You may expect these disorders to improve or resolve completely within a few sessions.

In addition, answers to questions about such disorders appear at AllExperts.com. Click here (opens new window) to view the questions and answers. Once at that page, use the "Find" feature of your browser and enter keywords (such as "back pain") to find Q&A relevant to your concern.

Hanna Somatic Educators do not diagnose "disease" conditions, but only identify muscular tension patterns that correspond to patterns of pain and/or to somatic disorders, as below.

A Hanna Somatic Educator can usually predict, with a high degree of accuracy, the number of sessions needed to resolve a particular malady. If he or she feels you are not improving as expected, he or she may advise you to return to your physician for further diagnostic procedures.

This process is for people ready to participate actively in their own healing, ready to learn -- not for people who want to do something standard or to be passive while a cure is "performed upon them".

A FUNCTIONAL VIEW OF VARIOUS CONDITIONS

Adhesive Capsulitis

Often associated with "frozen shoulder." or other "frozen" joints. May be misdiagnosed:
there may be no adhesions; instead, the musculature may be contracted,
restricting movement and creating pain. (to article)

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Arthritis

Catch-all term for joint pain and inflammation. Often results from joint overcompression due to muscles in contraction. If cartilage remains, may often be alleviated through somatic education -- first, by removing the pain of overcompression, then by natural healing of cartilage to occur. (to article)

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Back Pain

Back pain is common in industrialized societies because of nervous tension associated with the "clock and deadline" way of life. The stresses of being "on the go," of producing results, meeting deadlines, multi-tasking and other demands of that way of life add to accumulated nervous tension, affect the muscles of the back of the body, and produce muscle fatigue and soreness. Then, a minor additional demand on those muscles, such as those of leaning over, is sometimes sufficient to trigger a back spasm. Disk degeneration and sciatica sometimes follow, also the result of muscle tension and spine overcompression. Somatic education brings muscle function back into the normal range. (to article)

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Balance problems

Tight hamstrings interfere with foot position. Poor contact of the
feet with the ground: unstable foundation. Unevenly tight trunk muscles induce a postural side-tilt that displaces weight to one side, leading to a state of chronic imbalance. Tight neck muscles interfere with proper head carriage and movement, distorting the sensations provided by the balance centers of the inner ear. (To article)See Dizziness

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Dislocations, frequent

Excessive tension among muscles and tendons on one side of a joint
move the bone off-center in the joint, predisposing to injury or complete dislocation.

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Displaced Patella

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Dizziness

Caused by excessive neck tension and off-center head position.

The eyes, balance centers of the inner ears, and muscles of the neck are connected via brain-level reflexes controlled at the brain stem. The muscles of the neck move the head; the balance centers of the inner ear sense head movement. The eyes move with head movement to continue tracking whatever is being looked at. The brain coordinates these movements.

When the head is off-center, the brain senses the situation and attempts to maintain head-balance by means of muscular actions (corrective movements). When neck tension is excessive, however, the brain's corrective response is also excessive, which causes above-normal movements of the eyes, which creates excessive feedback to the brainstem (the sensations of movement). (Have you ever experienced the sensations of movement while watching a film?) The combination of incorrect sensory feedback, motor over-correction, excessive eye movement and feedback to the brainstem creates a spinning sensation.

These sensations commonly abate immediately as neck tension relaxes and head movement and position normalizes.

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Frequent Urination

Sometimes called "weak kidneys" or "overactive bladder." Tight abdominal muscles and floor of the pelvis reduce room for the bladder to expand, causing pressure to build up before the bladder is full. Sensors in the urethra report the pressure as fullness. Also, the sphincter muscles of the urethra become conditioned to a heightened state of tension by the frequent pressure, interfering with the ability to void the bladder. The involved muscular tensions must be normalized for normal filling and voiding to occur.

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Hamstrings, Tight

Causes what is sometimes called, "a pulled hamstring" (actually, there are three). Inability to relax hamstrings to extend to their full length: a conditioning problem signifying incomplete control (ability to relax and to freely use) that muscle group. The need to stretch hamstrings hamstrings always in partial contraction. The pain of hamstring pulls and their tendency to occur can be ended or reduced by somatic education. (to article)

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Headaches

Tension: habituated tension of the suboccipital neck muscles, which
pull upon the connective tissue that enwraps the skull.

Migraine: vascular. Chronic contraction of the deep neck musculature
along the sides and around the atlas (C1) may involve interference with the blood-pressure sensors in blood in the neck
vessels. In any case, headaches end as the tension level of these muscles normalizes. The same deep neck musculature pulls the upper vertebrae against the base of the cranium causing additional mechanical pain.

Sinus: sinuses drain through the lining of the throat. Then throat muscles are tight, draining is blocked by the tension of the lining. As those muscles relax, draining has been observed to start immediately. (to article).

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Hip

Overcompression by tight muscles. Often, pain is misdiagnosed as coming from the joint, when it comes from the muscles that surround the joint. However, long-term overcompression of the joint by tight muscles leads to cartilage breakdown (thinning and loss). Bone-on-bone contact in the joint results, leading to joint-replacement surgery and to possible subsequent leg length difference and sciatica (see sciatica. The problem is a long-term consequence of tight waist muscles that prevent proper pelvic movement, leading to overworked (and overcontracted) joint muscles. (to article)

Joint Pain

Overcompression by tight muscles. One must develop natural control of the muscles that cross the troublesome joint. Look also for unbalanced weight-bearing due to postural distortions, which places excessive burden on the troublesome joint(s). (to article)

NOTE: If joint damage has occurred, muscles may contract to brace the unstable joint and not respond well to somatic education. That may be a job for a surgeon.

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Knee Pain

Short or overcontracted hamstrings contribute to knee pain by preventing the knee from straightening under the load of walking. Such overcontraction also predisposes to knee injuries by pulling on the meniscus of the knee or by causing grinding of the patella (kneecap) against the joint.
(to article)

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Overweight and In Pain

The pain of overcontracted muscles makes people not want to exercise. Also, fat deposits often mask (and result from) chronic muscular contraction beneath the fat layer. Muscular contraction blocks circulation, allowing metabolic wastes, water (osmotically attracted), and fat to accumulate over long periods. Sporadic dieting and exercising are insufficient. By relaxing the musculature, comfort improves and exercise feels possible, again. As circulation improves, fat deposits tend to lessen by themselves, over time. Long-term dietary changes may be necessary.

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Pain, Chronic

A high percentage of chronic pain comes from muscular soreness due to over-fatigue. Chronically tight muscles develop a chronic "burn," experienced as body aches or mysterious pains. Muscles anywhere in the body may be involved. Tendons may also be overstretched (tendinitis) and bursae entrapped under tight tendons (bursitis)(to article)

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Pain, Migrating

Sometimes experienced by people receiving massage therapy, stretching, or chiropractic adjustments. Muscular tensions in areas not addressed by the therapy may increase and become painful. Forced relaxation (stretching) or postural shifts without a corresponding gain of muscular control sometimes trigger postural reflexes or protective muscular contractions.(to article)

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Psoas Muscle Pain

Sometimes called "weak" psoas muscles, this kind of pain originates from muscle fatigue of overcontracted psoas muscles, which run from the inner groin to the lumbar spine. Usually causing a top-forward pelvic tilt (excessive lumbar lordosis or curve) and a deep fold at the groin, tight psoas muscles cause low back pain and pelvic pain. Somatic training is usually sufficient to free contracted psoas muscles and to restore free movement function.

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Sacro-iliac Pain

The result of compression of that joint by excessive muscular tension of the muscles of the buttock responsible for leg rotation (toe-out), combined with uneven pulls by waist muscles, which change the angle of the pelvis. May result from injury (a blow, fall, or twist-and-lift actions) that prompts muscular contraction. Relieved by improving muscular control of the area.

May also result from excessive tension of the muscles of the low back, which are connected to soft-tissue in the sacro-iliac area. Such tension, in combination with buttock tension, can cause pain that mimics sacro-iliac pain.

Scoliosis

Distortion of spinal curves and rotation of ribs by muscular tensions or bone deformity.

Most commonly caused by muscular tensions following injury to the side of the trunk or to leg or hip ("functional scoliosis"). If injured during growth period, may lead to uneven bone growth and create permanent distortions of posture and movement. Bone deformity may result from genetic cause ("idiopathic scoliosis").

For scoliosis of muscular origin ("functional scoliosis") correction or complete improvement possible with somatic education. For scoliosis from bone deformity, improvements of movement and comfort are possible, but the scoliosis will remain.

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Shoulders, frozen/tight/painful

A common accompaniment of back pain from stress and nervous tension, shoulder muscle pain may also result from the shock of an injury that prompts one to tighten up/reflexively guard the injury (e.g., a fall or broken bone). "Frozen Shoulder" is commonly misdiagnosed as resulting from adhesions, whereas it usually results from highly contracted muscles immobilizing arm movement at the joint. "Frozen Shoulder" commonly "unfreezes" as soon as muscular suppleness is restored (by means of somatic education), without need for addressing "adhesions".

Nerve Pain

Compression of the nerve to the shoulder by muscles in the neck creates sensation as if the shoulder were injured. The solution is to free the neck muscles and so to discompress the nerve by that means, rather than surgically.

Joint Pain

The shoulder joint is designed to permit arm side-lift to 90 degrees (parallel to the ground). Further lifting requires the scapula (shoulder blade) to lift along with the arm. If muscles underneath the shoulder are tight, they prevent scapular movement, causing the humerus (upper arm bone) to jam into the joint, causing pain and cartilage damage (over time). The solution is to free the movement of the involved muscles (latissimus dorsi, pectoralis, serratus anterior).

Bursitis

A bursa is a fluid-filled sac that cushions a tendon. At the shoulder, if the muscles are tight, their tendons are taut and compress the bursa, causing bursitis. The solution is to free the movements of the related muscles.
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Spinal Stenosis

Narrowing of the spinal canal, through which the spinal cord passes, commonly diagnosed as the cause of pain. Sometimes misdiagnosed, particularly when pain comes and goes. Pain that comes and goes does not come from a narrowing of the spinal canal, which remains constant in size even as the pain varies. It comes from changes of muscular tension along the spine, which may create temporary nerve entrapment or muscular pain. Such pain may also result from hip joint dysfunction, which can be corrected by means of somatic education, provided the cartilage of the joint is sufficiently intact.
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Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Impingement of the brachial nerve plexus resulting from spasticity of muscles of the neck (scalenes) may create the feeling of one or both arms being "on fire". Can often be corrected by freeing the neck musculature of excessive muscular tension.

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Tendonitis

Tendons are straps or bands of tissue that attach muscle to bone. As such, tendons are passive and do not get tight by themselves; they get tight when attached muscles tighten and shorten. Tendinitis (or tendonitis) occurs when a muscle stays tight for long periods, as happens when protective reflexes get activated by injury. Strain on the tendon and friction of the tendon on surrounding tissue irritate the tendon and lead to inflammation and pain: tendonitis.

The necessary solution is to recapture control of the involved muscles from the involuntary reflexes (via somatic education). Without that step, anti-inflammatory drugs (such as cortizone) provide only temporary and symptomatic relief, while the injurious condition continues.

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TMJ/TMD Syndrome

Related to tight jaw and neck muscles. The sub-occipital muscles
may be involved, as they contract when the mouth is opened fully as one reaches forward in biting. Frequently accompanied by headaches.

Can be relieved by releasing the movements of the cranium and neck from the jawbone in all directions of movement.

More severe cases may involve the deep muscles of the throat (longus colli and capitus) associated with the larynx, the musculature associated with the tongue, and the entire rib cage. (to article)

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Uneven Leg Length

Sometimes bona fide; often misdiagnosed (even when measured). Often results from leg retraction and compression of soft hip joint tissue by tight muscles at the hip joint; sometimes results from hip joint degeneration over the long term (loss of cartilage) from the same condition. (to article)

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